by Haley Harper
“Now now,” he mumbled. Detective Monroe interjected quickly to get things back on track.
“Although all evidence to this point suggests this was just an unfortunate accident, I do need to speak to each of you to confirm your whereabouts at the time of death. All I need to do at this point is take each of your names and your contact information. We’ll start with you, please sir,” and he pointed to the man Shannon recognized as Michael Grant, a banking investor from Dublin. The other guests included Melanie and David Green from London who were just on a bit of a getaway from the kids, Kirk Allen, a university student from Cambridge, Bethany Campbell, a Canadian, herself and the recluse who had been forced to join the group for this interrogation, a university professor from Michigan named Larry Jordon, here for his summer vacation. Melissa would have rounded the group out at eight, the maximum number of guests accepted at one time. Shannon tried to pay attention as the guests were speaking but all she could think about was the look on Melissa face last night when they were at the turret, and how sick she seemed to be just from looking at it.
“There’s no way she went back and climbed it on her own, Shannon thought. Something isn’t right.” The last she had seen of Melissa was when she left her at the pub. She hadn’t paid any attention to who else had been in there. Could she have met up with someone in there who had lured her back to the turret and ultimately to her death? Shannon’s writer’s curiosity and vivid imagination were running wild. Could it have been the ghost of Lady Caldwell like wild Mrs. Pritchard proclaimed? Shannon shook her head. As much as she believed in ghosts and spirits, she didn’t believe they could commit murder. She took another look around the room, trying to determine if anyone there seemed suspicious. The guests from England, Ireland and Canada would certainly have no motive. That only left the recluse and herself. She knew she certainly hadn’t done it, and the very introverted professor hadn’t even met Melissa. Shannon’s glance shifted to the others in the room, immediately eliminating the owner Mrs. Chadwick, Frederick or the maids. The two stage actors that had put on the little performance were there as well. None of them seemed at all like the murdering kind. Then out of the corner of her eye, Melissa noticed the fourth maid, the one who seemed to always drift about on the outskirts of the activity. She was standing just outside the door and appeared to be listening to everything that was going on. Shannon was about to draw the attention of detective Monroe to her but decided instead to investigate for herself. She stepped up to Jake and touched his arm. “Could you excuse me for just a few minutes,” she whispered quietly. “I must use the ladies room.” Jake nodded and smiled.
“Just come right back ok?”
“I will,” Shannon promised. She slipped quietly out the door and into the massive foyer of the mansion. It was a wide open expanse furnished with big comfortable chairs and a few tables. There was no place for anyone to lurk about unseen, and Shannon could see instantly that the dark haired maid was no longer standing by the door. Her glance swept the room and continued up the winding staircase that led to the bedrooms. Very suspicious, Shannon thought. Returning to the dining room, she went and stood next to detective Monroe once again who was just wrapping up the questioning. She debated whether to mention the fourth maid, or do a little investigating on her own first. She was troubled by how shy and uncomfortable the maid seemed to be and didn’t want to cause her any unnecessary attention. “I can handle this,” she thought to herself. “Give the poor girl a break. I’m sure she’s not a murderer anyway, just some poor kid with other problems of her own.” Jakes voice broke into her thoughts.
“Thank you all very much. You are all free to go, but please be aware that we may need to speak to you again at some point. The officers will finish their investigation of the scene shortly and then things can get back to normal for all of you.” He shook hands with the owner and some of the other staff and left the room. Shannon followed after him and matched his step as he headed for the door.
“You seem convinced that it was an accident,” Shannon stated.
“It would appear so at this point. Melissa had only been here a couple of days. She hadn’t met anyone other than the guests here and none seem like the murdering type or that they would have any kind of motive. Unless of course you’re on board with Mrs. Pritchard and believe that a ghost can commit murder.” He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows, losing all professional demeanor for a second. Shannon couldn’t help but smile, in spite of the seriousness of the situation.
“Well no, I don’t believe that, well at least I don’t think I do. But I really don’t think it was an accident either. You see, Melissa and I were out walking the grounds last night, and I tried to get her to climb the turret with me. She turned absolutely green at the prospect. She had a real heights phobia. She could barely even look up at me when I waved to her from the top, so I know she would never have gone back and climbed it on her own.” Jake was staring at her intently.
“So you were at the turret last night with the deceased?”
Shannon frowned. “Yes, with Melissa,” she said. “Melissa, the deceased had a name you know!”
“Sorry,” Jake replied. “But you do realize what you’re saying don’t you? You have just placed yourself at the scene of the accident, with the deceased, er…with Melissa at the time of death. Shannon’s eyes grew wide.
“You don’t think……? No.” She shook her head. “I left Melissa at the pub and went up to bed. There were plenty of people in the pub who can verify that.” Now Shannon was angry. “Melissa had become a friend. She was here running away from an abusive husband. I was trying to help her.”
“Okay, okay, calm down,” Jake said. “I believe you, and your information about her fear of heights is quite enlightening, I’ll give it some serious consideration. Now how about you get back to your room and relax. I’ll keep in touch.” And with that he walked away.
Chapter 8
Shannon went back to her room but she couldn’t concentrate on her work. All she could think about was Melissa. She knew that the manager of the mansion was taking care of contacting her family. Although she had only known Melissa for a day, Shannon truly felt as though she had lost a friend. Sadness eventually turned to frustration at the thought of the police ruling her death an accident.
“It wasn’t. I know it wasn’t. If I have to, ill prove it myself.” But first she had two phone calls she wanted to make. Mitch’s strange behavior the last time she had called had been niggling away at the back of her mind. She found his number and punched the call button. While it was ringing, she looked at her watch. It was nearly noon here, so it would be about five o’clock there. Mitch should be at his apartment. Shannon was preparing to leave a message when a woman’s voice came on.
“Hello,” she said, sounding a little bit breathless.
“Hello,” said Shannon. “I’m calling for Mitch. Is he there?”
“Uh, ya, sure,” the woman stuttered. In a few seconds Mitch’s voice boomed into the phone.
“Hello?”
“Hi Mitch,” Shannon said. There was a long pause.
“Hi! How are you? How is the book going?”
“It’s going fine,” Shannon said a bit abruptly. “How are things going there?” There was another long pause.
“Um, good…busy teaching, grading papers…you know…same old stuff.”
Shannon wasn’t about to let him off the hook that easy. “And is someone there helping you with your…. stuff?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact. That was Tiffany who answered the phone. She’s the TA I have for my Editing class. She wanted to get some experience marking papers.”
“I’m sure she did,” Shannon said with a little more venom than she meant to use. “Experience is always a good thing to acquire.” Mitch caught her meaning and started to defend himself but Shannon interjected with a quick goodbye. “I’ll let you get back to work,” she snapped. “Goodbye Mitch.” As she hit the end call button she thought to herself that she was
probably ending more than just the phone call.
The next call Shannon wanted to make was to Maureen. She pulled the card from her computer bag. She hadn’t spoken to Maureen since they first met at the airport. Her card read Investigative Psychic. Shannon wasn’t really sure what that was, but she knew that Maureen had been born and raised in the area and Shannon was hoping Maureen could give her some local history of the the mansion. Although Shannon had read everything she could get her hands on while doing her research nothing was quite the same as getting a personal account of things. She entered the numbers from the card on her keypad. “Hello,” boomed Maureen’s deep voice.
“Hi,” Shannon said, identifying herself.
“Hi to you! It’s good to hear from you again. Thinking about taking a tour of our fine city?”
“Not really,” Shannon answered. “But I was hoping that maybe we could get together in town. I’d really like to pick your brain for information on the mansion and the area.”
“Great!” Maureen agreed without hesitation. “How about we meet at the café in town about 11 tomorrow?”
“Sounds great,” Shannon replied. “See you then.” With the time and place set, Shannon could now approach Frederick and ask him to drive her into town. “That will give me a chance to ask him a few questions about the murder too,” she thought.
Shannon spent the next couple of hours chatting with the guests who were trying to enjoy their holiday in spite of the tragic events of the morning. Some were sitting in the pub just chatting. Some were wandering the grounds, while others relaxed in the library trying to read and relax. All of the guests were obviously disturbed by the accident, but none even came close to raising the slightest bit of suspicion. Shannon noted that the reclusive professor Jordon was not anywhere around. Being as he had requested solitude from the beginning, Shannon didn’t find his absence alarming. “But I would still like to talk to him,” she thought.
Shannon wandered into the main lobby of the mansion and spotted Violet Chadwick behind the desk talking in hushed tones to Frederick. Shannon walked up to them and smiled. “Sorry if I’m interrupting,” she said quietly. “I just needed to ask you, Frederick, if you might be able to drive me into town tomorrow morning?”
“Not problems at all, miss,” he replied. “It would be my pleasure.” He seemed relieved that Shannon had interrupted the intense conversation that had been taking place.
“Well I’ll leave you two ladies to chat,” he said quickly, bowing slightly and walking away. Shannon turned to Violet Chadwick.
“That was quite a stressful morning wasn’t it?”
“It was indeed,” Violet replied stiffly, “and not one that I wish to discuss. It is dreadfully bad publicity for the mansion. I hate to think what it will do to business. And we were just beginning to get booked for the fall. I daresay this unfortunate accident will have a very negative impact on those bookings now. If you’ll excuse me, I must get back to my work.” She hurried away towards the office adjacent to the lobby and within seconds had shut herself away.
“Hmmm,” Shannon thought. “Guess I won’t b e getting any information from her.”
Next she wandered into the kitchen, hoping to find wild Mrs. Pritchard there and maybe the maids as well. Her guess was right on. Mrs. Pritchard had captured the ear of every maid and was still ranting about the ghost of the wicked lady Caldwell and her restless soul’s ability to commit murder. Shannon didn’t really want to spend much time listening to her crazy accusations, but she did have one very important question to ask.
“Excuse me,” she said calmly to the ranting woman. “I was hoping you might introduce me to these fine ladies.” She gestured in the direction of the three maids who were sitting across the table. Mrs. Pritchard stared blankly at her for a moment, her mind obviously trying to shift gears.
“Well, certainly,” she said at last. Starting with the first young woman she introduced them as Cynthia, Ashleigh and Samantha. Shannon nodded to each of them.
“I’m very pleased to meet each of you,” she said. For a few minutes she chatted with them about their work at the mansion and the sad turn of events. When Mrs. Pritchard decided it was time for them to return to work, she ended the conversation with a simple clap of her hands. The three young women rose and hurried off.
“Thank you for your help,” Shannon said as she shook the old woman’s hand. “But would you mind telling me where I might find the fourth maid?” Again the woman just gaped at her, mouth slightly open. Shannon asked again. “The fourth maid?”
Now Mrs. Pritchard was looking at her like she had two heads. “I don’t know where you got the idea there were four maids. We only employ those three that you just met, but between you and me and the bedpost, we surely could use another around here. But there’s no use trying to convince the stingy Violet Chadwick of that. No sireee. It’s three we have and three is the best were ever going to get.” Shannon tried to hold back her laughter. The woman really was something else. Trying to be serious, she asked again.
“But I saw a fourth maid on several occasions. Was there perhaps a temporary maid on staff at some time?” Mrs. Pritchard put her hands on her ample hips.
“I’ll say it again. It’s three we have and only three. No extras, no temporaries, no once in a whiles. Just three. Now I best be checking on those three or no work will be getting done.” As she headed off, Shannon thanked her for her help and headed outside, more puzzled than ever. She knew she had seen a fourth maid. Why would Mrs. Pritchard lie about it? Unless of course, she didn’t know about it. Interesting. Tomorrow she would speak to Frederick and Maureen and get a few more questions answered. For now, she decided to walk out to the turret. She wasn’t certain what was drawing her there, but she felt a compelling need to see the place where Melissa had died. Maybe something there would provide a clue that the police had overlooked.
Chapter 9
Shannon knew she had better hurry or she wouldn’t make it out to the turret and back before dark. The sun was already low in the sky and purple night clouds were starting to fill the sky. She also wanted to be back for dinner because she planned to keep her eyes peeled for the fourth elusive maid. Shannon was a bit freaked out walking the trail to the turret alone this time. When she and Melissa had been chatting, it hadn’t seemed nearly so dark or so isolated. Now the woods on either side seemed to move closer as she neared the turret. The lights from the other wings of the mansion were more like flickering candles than lights as they shone through the trees. No one else was out and about so the only sounds were those of leaves rustling and little woodland creatures scurrying about. Neither of those things would have ever bothered Melissa in a normal situation, but there was very little about this whole situation that was normal. She quickened her steps a little more after toying for a few minutes with the idea of turning back. Before long the dark outline of the turret rose in black silhouette against the evening sky. She stopped at the base of the turret, remembering Melissa’s face when she said she was going up. There’s absolutely no way she fell from that tower. If she was up there, she must have been forced to go at the hand of a murderer. Shannon glanced around the ground looking for anything that might suggest a struggle. Nothing looked out of place or disrupted. She was deep in thought when a shuffling from inside the turret set the hairs on the back of neck on end. Shannon froze and stared in the direction of the sound. Posed to run back to the main mansion, she waited a few more seconds. She was surprised and relieved when at last the form of the reclusive professor Jordon came through the turret door. He was equally shocked to see another person standing outside. For a moment neither spoke. Shannon was the first find her tongue.
“Mr. Jordon,” she said, hoping the tremor in her voice would go unnoticed. She held out her hand in introduction. “Shannon Porter.” He shook her hand in return.
“Larry, please. How do you know my name?” he asked rather bluntly. Shannon was surprised by his offended tone.
“I rememb
er it from the police interrogation this morning. I have a very good memory for names.”
“Oh I see,” he replied, his tone softening a bit. Shannon spoke up quickly to fill the awkward silence.
“So, what brings you out here?” she asked. He looked at her so intently that Shannon felt as if he were looking right through her.
“I was just looking for a little solitude, a quiet, unpopulated place to take walk. I was also a tad curious. It’s not every day that someone falls to their death from the turret of a haunted mansion. And what, if I may ask, brings you out here?” Shannon wasn’t sure what to say. She couldn’t very well admit that she was trying to solve a crime, when the man she was talking to could very well be a suspect in said crime. Professor Jordon was still staring at her with those creepy eyes and Shannon suddenly found herself feeling very uncomfortable. Although the main wing of the mansion was in sight through the trees, she felt very isolated. Putting her fear aside, Shannon decided she needed to get a few more answers from the man while she had the chance. Trying to sound more amicable, she smiled, and said she was there doing some research for her latest book.
“You’re writing about the mansion?” he asked with what appeared to be a genuine interest. “It should be a fascinating story. Did you know that it’s said that other people have died here. Apparently there is a restless ghost at work avenging the death of her lover. Or maybe it’s the ghost of her husband getting revenge for his cheating wife.” He almost sneered when he spoke those last words. The change in his tone and demeanor immediately set off alarm bells in Shannon’s head. It was time to head back to the mansion.